psychological? >> well, you know, bobby kennedy said to jack kennedy on the way out the door to debate dick nixon, kick him in the balls. you know? sometimes it's just something like that, something like that. that's history, not me talking. and sometimes it's just that kind of sense of, go get 'em! and that can be the thing you need. nixon's guy, on the other hand, said to him, "erase the assassin's image." that was a real picker-upper for nixon. don't look like the 5:00 shadow bad guy. >> both men accept makeup at this point. and neither of them, as far as we know, had a 102-fever heading into this, the way nixon did in 1960 on that night that gave birth to the modern era of presidential televised debate. the debate is about to begin now. we turn you over now to the moderator, jim lehrer, at the university of denver. >> good evening, from the magnus arena at the university of denver in denver, colorado. i'm jay lehrer of the pbs "newshour," and i welcome you to the first of the 2012 presidential debates between president barack obama, the democratic nominee, and former massachusetts gover
